Here are 2021’s ‘Most Independent States’

With Independence Day right around the corner and states have received an additional $195 billion in federal COVID-19 aid this year, a new report on 2021’s Most Independent States, was released.

To determine the most self-sufficient states, WalletHub compared the 50 states across 39 metrics, which measure how dependent Americans are on the government and other people for finances, their jobs, and personal vices.

Here is the list:

Key Stats:

• Montana has the lowest share of private industry workers employed by foreign-owned firms, at 1.78 percent. That’s 4.1 times lower than in Kentucky, the highest at 7.33 percent.
• Pennsylvania has the lowest share of government workers (local, state, and federal), at 10.40 percent. Alaska has the country’s highest share, at 25.20 percent.
• New Hampshire has the lowest share of residents in poverty, at 7.60 percent – 2.7 times lower than in Mississippi (20.30 percent).

Some expert commentary about the report answers important questions.

How will the COVID-19 impact the global economy and world trade affect production and consumption in the long term?

“It will speed up automation and boost productivity in some sectors. It will lead to a reallocation of labor, possibly to more efficient uses,” according to Victor Menaldo, Professor, Department of Political Science at the University of Washington.

“It will have a long-run positive effect, but just how much remains to be determined. It may, however, lead to some macroeconomic instability in that a lot of countries have larded up with debt and this could spur a financial crash, potentially a sovereign debt crisis, in the future if they have trouble financing their debt as interest rates increase in the wake of increased inflation.”

Is it fair that some states are more dependent on the Federal Government than others?

“The federal government represents the people of the United States, rather than the states and territories of the Union. This was decided when the United States moved to a federal, rather than a confederal, form of government in 1789. Accordingly, the federal government will provide aid to individuals and states with less financial resources to equalize, to some extent, economic circumstances, while at the same time tying the aid to the achievement of federal goals,” added Harvey L. Schantz a Professor of art at the State University of New York, Plattsburgh.

What tips do you have for a person that wishes to reduce his/her job dependency? Should they try to join the “gig” economy?

“Sure. But the problem is that you have to hedge against risk in ways that you were previously hedged against when you worked for somebody else: because you might have been hard to replace, even during bad times they had an incentive to keep you employed and keep paying you. Also, firms have a more diversified product and service portfolios than folks who work for themselves. Those sources of security are gone once you break out on your own. So hustle, hustle, hustle,” Menaldo added.

Source: WalletHub